New England Patriots offensive line coach and senior advisor Matt Patricia, who also appears to be the team's offensive play-caller, hasn't garnered many fans in recent years.

In his final game as the Patriots' defensive coordinator in 2017, Patricia's defense gave up 41 points to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII. He had three tumultuous seasons as the Detroit Lions' head coach from 2018 to 2020. Now, Patricia's revamped offense in New England hasn't brought many good results.

Through nine games, the Patriots rank 26th in total offense and 16th in scoring. While they rank in the middle of the pack in scoring, that isn't great considering that they entered Week 9 with the best average starting field position in the league.

Sunday was another lackluster performance for the Patriots' offense in which they had just 203 yards and scored only one touchdown, which was aided by a punt block, in the 26-3 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Yet, Patriots quarterback Mac Jones had high praises for Patricia after the game, saying “He’s done a great job. He’s a great leader of men.”

Mac Jones elaborated a bit more as to why he views Matt Patricia as a great leader, taking some responsibility on the Patriots' offensive woes himself.

“He works really hard. He gives it his all every day, just like all of our coaches and players,” Jones said on WEEI's “Merloni, Faura & Meggo” on Monday. ‘That’s the important part, just putting in the work. Obviously, you want better results and we’re going to get better results. it starts with us as players, but [Patricia]’s done a good job just keeping it positive and holding us to a standard.

“We just have to answer that bell a little bit better. It starts with me. That’s what we’re going to do. [Patricia] has done a great job. … Getting here early, staying late, putting us in position to win and we have to go out there and execute better.”

Jones certainly isn't blameless for the Patriots' offensive struggles. He threw at least one interception in each of the first five games he played in this season, though he didn't throw one on Sunday. So far this year, Jones has completed 66.1 percent of his passes for 1,140 yards with four touchdowns to seven interceptions, good for a passer rating of just 76.

But Jones hasn't been dealt the best hand around him, either. The changes on the Patriots' offense brought a lot of growing pains through training camp and the preseason, which carried over into the first three games of the season. Jones suffered an ankle injury late in Week 3, which caused him to miss three games. Since he's returned, Jones hasn't had great protection in front of him, either. He was sacked a career-high six times against the New York Jets in Week 8 and was sacked four times against the Colts.

The Patriots' offensive line has seen a few players shuffle around in recent weeks due to their poor play. Isaiah Wynn lost his spot at right tackle, being replaced by Marcus Cannon. Yodny Cajuste started there on Sunday because Cannon was placed on injured reserve during the week after suffering a concussion. Rookie left guard Cole Strange has been benched in each of the last two games due to poor play and penalties. Center David Andrews has missed the last two games to a concussion, too.

Jones still has confidence in his offensive line though, saying it requires a team effort for the offense to play well.

“When we play with effort and toughness as an offense, we’re pretty good,” Jones said. “Whoever is out there, I trust them all. … At the end of the day, it’s five guys who want to help the team just like everybody else. When we play together, which we usually do, it’s good. When we don’t show effort and toughness, me or anybody else, it’s not as good. It starts with me.”

Matt Patricia and Mac Jones will get a break from getting hit this weekend as the Patriots are on their bye week. They return to action in Week 11 when they host the Jets.